The Last of the Forgotten
by CompanionWolf12
Summary: Years after the events of 'Challenges of a Warrior', Emalia finds herself on another quest! She has discovered the possible location of another Snow Elf society and proposes to take Gelebor there. There are two problems. One, Solstheim where they need to go and Emalia doesn't want to revisit something... Two, the Daedra are out to wreck havoc upon Emalia's sanity...
1. Farewell to Loved Ones

**Heyya! I'm here with another story! || NOTE: Read 'Challenges of a Warrior' BEFORE reading this! This will spoil almost everything in that story. || This one will continue a few years or so after where we left off in Challenges of a Warrior. Things have happened. Bad things. Emalia is very much hurt by all the things that have happened, what about Vilkas? Well, we'll find out in a few chapters what the deal is with him :3 In this fanfic, we have another character (from the game), Gelebor! Well, Knight-Paladin Gelebor to be exact. I hope that you enjoy this story! By the way, PLEASE REVIEW! I'D LOVE TO HEAR ALL OF YOUR FEEDBACK AND THOUGHTS!**

A lone snow elf stood on one of the high peaks which reached up to the sky. He let the last grains of frozen soil tumble from his pale fingers and dot the snow, over his brother's grave. This snow elf was Knight Paladin Gelebor, the last of his kind. It made his heart ache to bury his brother's cold body under the ground. It was only a few days ago he realized that his brother was actually a vampire, he created a prophecy which caused mayhem out in Skyrim. If it weren't for the Dragonborn and her follower, a vampire... The irony, Gelebor would have never found out what his brother was scheming. He first thought his brother had been corrupted by the Falmer, and didn't mind if he was killed. But when the horrid reality crashed down upon him... That changed everything... It was only then when Gelebor realized how evil his brother, the Arch-Curate of the Chantry of Auri-El, actually was. Creating a prophecy to weaken Auri-El's influences on Nirn? That was unheard of... Despite the things he had done, Gelebor couldn't help but pity his brother. He had been turned into a vampire by one of the initiates in the Chantry, not by choice, and Auri-El hadn't done anything to keep him as a normal Snow Elf. But, his brother got what was coming for him. Death. Now, Gelebor was the last of his kind... He stood silently at the grave which he had dug for his brother. Gelebor found it hard to believe that he was the last of the Snow Elves, it was a feeling that was so alien to him. Before, when his brother was alive there was only the faintest traces of said feeling. But now, it was overpowering. Like probing fingers in his mind, like claws tearing him apart, like fire devouring him, like ice encasing him. He could almost feel the cold touch of death upon his skin. A shiver went up Gelebor's spine as he thought of everything. He quickly turned away from the grave and whispered on final good bye to his brother. It was actually harder than he though it would be, saying good bye to a brother... _How many others would have had to do the same thing?_

When he turned back to face the Chantry, one thought echoed in his mind: "_You are the last of your kind._"

* * *

Far from the Forgotten Vale, atop a tall peak, stood a woman, standing over what seemed like a statue of a man, sleeping peacefully in the snow. She gently brushed away the thin layer of snow forming in the grooves of the armor and on the statue's facial features. The woman placed a gentle kiss upon the forehead of the statue and stroked the statue's cheek. "I hope one day we'll reunite..." She whispered.

Though the statue was cold to the touch, she remembered a time when the skin was warm under her fingers. "I've painted a picture of the two of us together once again, have you seen it yet?" She asked.

There wasn't a response, as the woman expected, but she still smiled. "I still love you. I still remember everything about you. I won't forget you some time soon."

_I must seem so crazy..._ The woman thought to herself in her mind.

She gazed at the face of the statue for a few moments longer. Without realizing it, tears were starting to trickle down her cheeks. It wasn't long before more tears flowed and sobs started to escape her lips. "I wish you were still with me..." She cried quietly. "I wish what had happened never did happen..."

Her tears slashed against the cheeks of the statue. It's unmoving face didn't help the woman's tears to go away. "Without you, I'm slowing going mad... It won't be long before Sheogorath claims my mind... I might see you again sooner, my love."

She stood up slowly and glanced at the statue one last time. "Farewell for now..."

The woman looked to the horizon, a silver moon the colour of _his _eyes slowly came to view. She bit her lip and stole one last glance at the statue. "When the next full moon comes, I shall be here again."

She looked back and walked away, it was painful not to look back. Every time she visited, it was as if a piece of her soul was being left behind. A terrible sensation ripped through her mind as each step took her further away. Her pace picked up and soon she was running back to the place she called home. Skyrim.

* * *

Gelebor looked out at the Forgotten Vale from the balcony of the Chantry, it was a beautiful place, untouched by time or humans... Blanketed in snow and bathed in the moonlight, it was just amazing... Behind him, there was the strange _whoom_ of someone using the portals that lined the walls on the small shrine located on the balcony. He turned around and smiled ever so slightly when he saw who it was. The Dragonborn. Her name was... Emalia was it? She was a pretty Wood Elf with tan skin, long dark brown hair which she always braided and twisted into a bun at the nape of her neck and dark amber eyes which glowed with a soft fire of kindness and wisdom. She wore a strange type of armor that seemed like it was made of ice which Gelebor had never seen before, whatever it was made of must be very _very _rare indeed if he hadn't ever seen it before! Even the bow and the arrows she had were made of the same material. Unlike last time, she wasn't accompanied by anyone. "Good evening Gelebor!" She called.

He smiled warmly. "Ah, Dragonborn, it is good to see you again. It gets a little lonely up here... Ah! But it's better than that dark cave I was in before."

Emalia nodded slowly and looked around, she glanced at the rumble which still lay on the cracked marble floor from her fight with Vyrthur, Gelebor's brother. "So I see you haven't done anything to the place yet." She observed.

Gelebor shook his head and ran his fingers through his short snowy hair. "No, I haven't. I don't think I really should do anything until I find any other... Snow Elves..."

A silence hung in the air for a moment, but silence was something Gelebor couldn't stand anymore. "So what brings you here?"

Emalia held out a book, ancient, by the looks of if, but undamaged. "I found this book deep in a cave up in the island of Solstheim, I took it up to the College of Winterhold and some friends with resources but none of them could crack the code. So I thought I might bring it to you to see what you can make of it."

Gelebor took the book from her hands and flipped through the pages, the ink had faded and the pages were yellowed, but it was still readable. After a few more moments of examination, he managed to figure out the language that the book was written in. "That's amazing! It's the language of the Snow Elves! The one that we used long before the Nords came to Skyrim and took the land, I think I may have enough knowledge of the language to be able to decode this book."

Emalia sighed in relief. "Thank you, not knowing what that book said was driving me insane!"

Gelebor chuckled as he flipped through the pages, he was hoping he could just flip through the pages and read the runes normally, but he was so used to reading and speaking other languages that it took a few moments of concentration to figure out the meaning of just one word. "Ah... Dragonborn..."

Emalia turned around swiftly. "Hmm?"

"I'm... Finding it rather difficult to translate this book, perhaps you should give me a little more time and I'll have all of this completed some time later."

Emalia shook her head and sat down on a bench, relaxing and closing her eyelids. "Nah, I got nothing to do... I'll stick around, you said you needed some company and this place is peaceful..." Then she muttered under her breath "Unlike Jorrvaskr where everyone would fill my ears with words of false sympathy..."

Gelebor looked over to her, "What are you talking about?"

The Dragonborn started to look slightly uncomfortable. "Um... Jorrvaskr is where I live... Its, ah... It's home to the Companions... A group of warriors whose origin... Um... Traces back to Ysgramor and the original five hundred Companions who... Ah... Who fought off the Snow Elves when they first came to Skyrim..."

Gelebor gnashed his teeth, another reason why he was the last of his kind... The Atmorans who came to his homeland and wiped out nearly all of the race, forcing them to seek out the Dwemer who betrayed them. Emalia must of seen the anger in his eyes, for she was twisting the golden band around her finger nervously. Gelebor then realized that it was the first time he'd noticed he ring. "What is that?"

Emalia looked up, and back at the ring again. "Oh... This... It's my wedding ring..."

Wedding ring? Gelebor never knew that the Dragonborn was married! "I haven't seen my husband for so long... I wonder how he is..." Emalia gazed up at the stars sadly.

Gelebor noticed tears welling in her eyes, something about her husband made her very sad... "Why haven't you seen him for such a long time? Why don't you visit him?"

The Dragonborn shook her head, she looked away and hunched her shoulders. "My destiny..." She whispered.

Gelebor nodded slowly, whilst he had to bear the weight of being the last of his kind the Dragonborn carried the weight of destiny. He continued to flip the pages of the book, little by little becoming more familiar with the runes which were written within. Then Emalia spoke up again. "Um... Gelebor?"

He looked up from the book. "Yes?"

"I was wandering, what does it feel like to be the last of the Snow Elves?"

Gelebor bit the inside of his cheek and turned his attention back to the book. "If you don't want to talk about, then that's okay... You don't need to answer."

The only sound that filled the air was the wind whistling and pages flipping, soon it became apparent that Emalia was getting a little restless. "Okay, I'm going to wander around the valley. See if there are any dragons and such. I'll be back when I see nothing of interest."

Gelebor nodded and pointed over to the direction of the frozen lake, "Long ago there were twin dragons sealed under the ice. Perhaps you could look there!"

Emalia jumped up from her seat and nodded enthusiastically. "Okay! I won't be too long! Don't worry about me, I can manage myself. Which Wayshrine should I portal to?"

Gelebor considered that for a moment, he hadn't visited all of the Wayshrines of Auri-El... He grasped for a distant memory and gave the Dragonborn an answer. "I'd say the Wayshrine of Sight, If it's wrong you can blame me."

Emalia let out a small laugh before jumping through a portal. "Alone again..." Gelebor muttered.

He sighed and sat down on a bench. It's easier to concentrate when you're alone. No one to talk to him when he was trying to decipher the long forgotten runes. Slaying two dragons was a mighty task, it should give him around two days at least to decode the runes.

**There's the first chapter! I hope you like it! I just want to say that occasionally I will get things wrong in this fanfic. For example, the Wayshrine of Sight is nowhere NEAR the frozen lake of dragons! Correct me in reviews and I'll be thankful :) Update: Recently I made a deviantArt account. I'm going to put up some drawings which relate to this fanfic every now and then, next chapter update I'm going to put a link, because by then I should have a drawing related to this fanfic :3**


	2. Discoveries

**I'm back with another chapter! Hopefully I'll have faster chapter updates since it's the summer holidays and I spend my days doing next to nothing :P**

"Damn it, Gelebor! You didn't tell me those dragons were _Revered _Dragons!"

Gelebor jumped and looked behind him, the Dragonborn was back quicker than he expected. "I beg your pardon?"

"Revered Dragons. Different shaped skulls to a normal dragon, no teeth, beaked, huge, fire breathing, you know?" She tried to mimic the dragon's mouth and head with her arms.

Gelebor shook his head slowly, confused. "No..."

Emalia sighed and started storming around the temple. "Is there any paper around? I'll draw one for you."

She disappeared into the temple, giving Gelebor a brief moment of silence. But it wasn't long before she came back again. "Okay, we now both have stuff to do."

Emalia sat down on the cold stone and started sketching a dragon with a stick of charcoal. Gelebor smiled and went back to flipping through the pages of the book Emalia had given him, but there was something about the writing and the ink on the paper which was different... He held the book closer and examined the writing and the runes, they were a lot more familiar to him than the other runes in the book and the ink was darker, more recent... "Dragonborn, this page is making use of the Snow Elf language I've always known, the runes are of the likes of which I have read before and what has been written is a lot more recent than the other passages!"

Emalia tossed the piece of charcoal, which had coated her fingers in black dust, and the half finished sketch of a dragon head before running over to check out the runes which were written in the book. "What does it say, what does it say, what does it say?"

"Calm yourself, Dragonborn."

Emalia still looked quite jumpy and eager to see what was written. Gelebor traced the runes which were written with his fingertips as he translated. "This first paragraph here reads: "_If you are able to read this ancient language, we assume that you are a friend. For no other race can read such a language other than us, and most likely you. In this book I have written the most important information there is to know, some that you may need to know. First, if you are able to read such a language that means you must be a Snow Elf, or Falmer. Second, you are not the only Snow Elf (or Elves) left in Tamriel."_"

Emalia's eyes widened as Gelebor spoke the words which were written down. "_We have gone into hiding in a secluded location in Solstheim, which is why you have found this tome there. We can't dare return back to Skyrim again, for the Nords will most likely kill us, we shall give you a hint of where to find us:_

Within the towering glaciers

_There we do hide  
In the cracks and crevices_

_There we reside_

_In hopes of finding those  
Who share Auri-El's beliefs_

_To recognize our hidden homes_

_Carved in ice is Auri-El's light_

_Speak the words of blessing_

_And you shall be granted access_

_To the Last of the Forgotten_

_Find us, and may Auri-El's light guide your path."_

Gelebor stared at the writing, unbelieving. "That's... That's..."

"So amazing!" Emalia squealed.

She ran off to the middle of the balcony with a wild grin and her eyes shining. "Gelebor! We have to go there, we can find more of your kind! You won't be alone anymore, you could bring them to the Forgotten Vale!"

Gelebor smiled at the overexcited elf, even though he didn't show it, he was very excited as well. More Snow Elves? That was amazing! "Dragonborn, could I ask a favor of you?"

Emalia nodded. "Anything!"

"You wouldn't mind journeying with me to Solstheim to find these Snow Elves, would you?"

For a single moment, it seemed as if Emalia was about to cry... But her expression brightened again to her normally perky self. "I wouldn't mind! As long as... Um... Never mind..."

Gelebor could tell she was hiding something, but he didn't ask what. "Thank you, Dragonborn–"

"Please, call me Emalia. I'm tired of people calling me 'Dragonborn' or 'Dovahkiin'."

Gelebor nodded slowly. "Okay... Emalia, shall we set off?

* * *

"I'd suggest you wear this cloak to conceal yourself, I'm not sure how people will react when they see you. They might be like "That's a miracle! A Snow Elf survived all these years!" or they'll be like "Divines, help us! There's a Snow Elf!" and then that would just cause trouble."

Emalia handed Gelebor a long black cloak with a hood, he thanked her quickly and wrapped the cloak around him and pulled the hood down to let the shadows conceal his face. "I think that's better, now I need to stop by my home on the island of Solstheim before we set off. I need to pick some stuff up, is that alright?"

Gelebor nodded, "That's fine Drago- I mean, Emalia."

Emalia smiled gratefully when Gelebor caught himself from saying 'Dragonborn'. "I'm glad you remembered that little detail..."

Gelebor nodded and looked nervously to the exit of the Forgotten Vale. "I think we should get going. I'm not sure how much longer we have left until someone might find those Snow Elves..."

Emalia nodded and took out her bow. "Let's go, stay behind me just in case any Betrayed jump out at us."

Gelebor shook his head and took out a beautiful blade with the likes Emalia had never seen before. "I can defend my self perfectly fine."

Emalia gazed at the blade. "Amazing, what's it made of?"

Gelebor examined the sword whilst talking. "The blade itself is made of refined moonstone re-enforced with steel and a small bit of a quicksilver ingot and malachite. The hilt is made of the bone of some sort of animal, which I have completely forgotten the name to, and bound in leather with a steel pommel with a ruby embedded in it."

Emalia gaped in awe at the sword. "That is some fine craftsmanship, do you know how to make a sword of the same likes?"

Gelebor shook his head. "I only know what it's made of, not how to make it."

Emalia frowned but shrugged. "It's fine, I have my bow."

"Speaking of your bow, what is it made of?" Gelebor asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Ah, this? It's called Stalhrim! This is a set of Stalhrim armor that you only hear about in legends. This is the Deathbrand Armor. It belonged to a fearsome pirate long ago, but I have it now. This stuff is very very strong, hit me with your fancy sword."

Gelebor furrowed his brows. "Is this a good idea? I don't want to be held responsible for the death of the Dragonborn."

Emalia waved a hand in the air. "Nonsense! Just try!"

Gelebor frowned, but heeded Emalia's wishes. He brought the blade across her chest and the sword just skidded off! "See? It's really strong and will protect me."

With a smile, Gelebor sheathed his sword. "Okay, now I believe you. Now let's worry about getting out of the Forgotten Vale."

**Yeah, I suck at writing poems and prophecies... Ah, well! At least I tried :3 Please follow, favourite and review. I'll be back with a mushier chapter :P**


	3. Sad, Sad Memories

**Sorry this chapter's late! I wanted to add more to it, but I couldn't think of what to add. So here it is! I was trying to think of something to talk about, but I got nothing. This chapter is a little more depressing than the rest, but hints to things in the future :) Enjoy!**

It was perhaps decades ago when Gelebor had last seen Skyrim. It had changed very much during that time, or to his eyes it had changed. Everything just didn't seem like the way it was before. In front of him, Emalia pulled out a map and traced a long line with her finger. "We'll follow this path here which will lead us to Windhelm, then from there we can book a passage to Solstheim and be on our way to the search of a lifetime!"

"Emalia? Before we do reach Solstheim, would you be so kind as to tell me what dangers to expect there?"

Emalia bit her lip in concentration, thinking deeply about the question. Then her eyes brightened. "Ah yes! There are Ash Spawn, Ash Hoppers, Burnt Spriggans, Netch, wolves, Rieklings, Seekers, Lurkers, Frost Trolls and Werebears. Oh wait! There are also Horkers, Frostbite Spiders, Exploding Spiders, Bandits and many many other vicious thing that may or may not bite your head off."

Gelebor remained silent, not knowing what half of those creatures even were! But by the sounds of it, Emalia had probably faced of every one of the creatures she had listed out. "Oh! Before we go, I must get something from my home in Windhelm. It's very close by to where we can get a boat to Solstheim!"

"Very well then, what do you need to get though?"

Emalia spun around and glared at Gelebor. "It's not your business!"

Gelebor held his hands up in defense, but Emalia seemed quite a bit angered and acted quite differently to what she usually would act like. Suddenly, her face paled and her angered expression when to one of sadness. She immediately turned away and said nothing. It was almost as if Gelebor had accidentally said something which reminded her of a terrible event. Gelebor stole a glimpse at Emalia's face, and to his surprise saw a single tear slowly trickling down her cheek. Something was very off about her indeed... He would have to wait till later to find out exactly what she was crying about.

* * *

_Snow, so much snow. Why did there have to be so much damn snow in Skyrim? Emalia felt like a fever was eating away at her, not even the snow could cool her burning body. A saber cat leaped out of the snowstorm, it's jaws snapping. An arrow plunged through the big cat's skull and it fell limp to the floor. Tears flowed from Emalia's eyes as she watched the life seep away in the form of red blood on the snow. "Are you okay?" Called a voice._

_A deep male voice with a thick Nordic accent coating each word. Emalia turned to see who it belonged to. A tall man with dark unruly hair which was swept behind his ears, his eyes were silver, like the moon, and were framed with short dark lashes, his dark eyebrows were furrowed into an expression of worry, dark stubble dusted his cheeks, his sloping nose led to an oh-so-kissable mouth. "No..." Emalia muttered._

_She reached out to stroke the man's cheek, but as her fingers brushed his skin ice spread. What was more horrifying was that the man didn't seem to notice, he didn't react to the quickly spreading ice. Emalia could only watch in horror as it encased him. Just before he went still, the man mouthed one word. "Emalia..."_

* * *

Emalia's eyes snapped open, her throat ached and burned as if she'd been forced to swallow sand. The tips of her ears were cold and her hair was a mess. She touched her cheeks to see frozen tears clinging to her skin. "You were crying and muttering in your sleep."

Emalia spun around to see Gelebor, the last, or what they thought, of the Snow-Elves. He sat by the dying fire, his eyes watching the sun creeping up from the horizon. "Are you okay?"

Emalia shivered, those were the same words she had heard in her dream. The same words she heard nearly seven years ago. Emalia weakly nodded. "Yeah, I-I'm fine."

She stretched her stiff body and rejoiced the warmth of the rising sun. Her whole body ached, probably because she'd slept with her armor still on. "We're nearly there. Maybe a one or two more hours and we'll be at the gates of Windhelm."

Gelebor stood up and nodded. "That's good, I was beginning to wonder how much more I would have to walk!"

Emalia gave him a joking glare. "Walk all across Skyrim twelve times, see how you feel after that."

"Okay, you win..." Gelebor grumbled.

"Good, now let's start walking. After we gather all the camping stuff."

* * *

Gelebor quietly observed Emalia as she walked, her usually bright spirit was dampened. Her head hung low and her steps, which were usually bouncy and lively, dragged across the ground. Instead of chatting casually to him, Emalia would only say something if it had anything to do with how much longer they would have to walk and which direction they were going in. After long hours of silence, Gelebor finally spotted the tips of a huge stone city. "There it is, Windhelm. Pull that hood over your face, I'll tell you when you can take it off."

Gelebor nodded and pulled the hood over his face, using the shadows to conceal his features. He kept his eyes on Emalia's boots so that he knew where she was going.

* * *

Emalia ignored the glares which the guards were giving her. But through gnashing teeth, they greeted her by her rightful title. Dragonborn. She never chose a side in the war, the Companion in her often made her make decisions like that, and for that the Jarl of Windhelm was really pissed off. So was General Tullius. The Stormcloaks were also incredibly racist. All Stormcloaks didn't give about what race you were, if you weren't a Nord, your were lower than them. It was worse for the elves though. Dunmer, Altmer and Bosmer alike. Emalia was no exception. She flashed a cocky smile at the guards, who tightened their grip on their weapons as she walked past. She had earned the Jarl's favour after solving a murder mystery, and in return had gotten the house which the crimes were committed in. Now that the place had been cleaned up and refurnished, everything was quite cozy. Despite that, Emalia usually only stored weapons in there and didn't use it too much for living in. Last time she'd actually 'lived' in a house was when... things were different. Happier. Emalia took the route through the graveyard so that she could avoid people on the streets who knew her. She sighed in relief when she got to the front door of her home and turned around to see if Gelebor was still behind her, thank the Divines that he was... Emalia pulled out a key and unlocked the door. She hurried in and lit up the living room before ushering Gelebor in. She immediately locked the door behind him and pulled all the curtains closed. "Okay, you can take that hood off now."

She heard Gelebor take in a deep breath, but soon after sneezed a few times because of the dust in the air. "Sorry about the mess, I haven't visited here for a little while now... I really have to find time to clean up my houses..."

Emalia turned around to face Gelebor. "Make yourself at home, we leave tomorrow. There's a spare room up the stairs, down the corridor and to the right, I'll clean it up a little first. The Northern Maiden won't be at the docks yet."

Gelebor looked extremely confused. "How do you know that?"

"One, I didn't see the ship when we were entering the city, you can usually see the docks from there. Two, today's Tirdas. Yesterday they would have left to make shipments elsewhere. I trust the captain of the ship a lot and I hope you don't mind that I will tell him who you are."

"As long as he can be trusted. Otherwise I won't hesitate in doing whatever I have to do to make sure that he doesn't spread this secret."

Emalia nodded casually and turned to the staircase that led to the second level of the house. "I need to find something up there, just call me if you need me."

With that, she raced up the stairs. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she walked through the wide corridor decorated with weapons she'd found or made. At the end of the corridor was a tightly locked chest. Emalia pulled out the key and crouched by the chest, she fitted the key into the lock and twisted it around until she heard the click of the lock opening. The lid creaked slightly as she pushed it up. Within were a few dusty old weapons, at the bottom of the chest was a weapon wrapped in cloth. Emalia reached down and fingered the cloth, the old material was rough on her fingertips. She ran her fingers along the length of the weapon and grabbed the hilt. Emalia strapped the sword to her back, under her bow and quiver. She left it covered in the cloth so that the leather sheathe wouldn't be damaged. Emalia gently closed the lid and stood up slowly. She glanced up at the painting that she had placed above the chest. It showed her and another person, arm wrapped around her. Emalia realized how much happier she seemed in the painting. Then again, it was showing a scene from before... "It's a beautifully done painting, did you paint it?"

Emalia squeaked and spun around. Gelebor stood behind her, looking at the painting. "Who's the other person in the painting?" He asked

"It's none of your business!"

Gelebor rolled his eyes and studied the painting. "Is that him? Your husband which you were talking about before?"

Emalia knew that there was no getting out of this. "Y-yes... It's him."

She held her breath dreading the next question which was to be asked, but none came. Emalia breathed out slowly and stood up. "I'm quite weary right now... If you don't mind, I'm going to sleep."

Without waiting for a response, Emalia walked over to the main bedroom and closed the door behind her. She shed all her armor and slipped on some comfortable clothes which she could sleep in. Emalia wasn't so tired as to sleep in her armor! Besides, she knew that the Northern Maiden would only arrive in the afternoon of the next day. Giving her quite a bit of time to rest.


	4. Going Mad

**I'M SO SORRY GUYS! I HAVEN'T POSTED A NEW CHAPTER FOREVER! I was on holiday, without my laptop and no internet connection. I wasn't able to do anything, but I have this here now! This is the chapter where you'll be able to fit the puzzle pieces together :] Enjoy! NOTE: This chapter has some Ulfric hate in it. It's in there for the purpose of the story! I don't hate him. In fact, I don't care about the war. Please don't be offended by anything! Thx!**

The next morning Emalia was awoken by loud knocking on the door. She groaned and rolled out of the comfortable cocoon of furs. She swapped her clothes for something more presentable and dragged her fingers through her tangled hair, yawning the whole time she was doing so. She managed to get it into a messy plait and Emalia pushed the door open and rushed downstairs, thankfully bumping into Gelebor whilst doing so. "Gelebor!" She hissed in an urgent whisper. "I need you to hide in the room opposite mine. Once you get inside, lock the door and block it off so that nobody can get in."

The Snow Elf nodded and ran to do what she told him to do. Emalia sighed and continued her dash to the door. She put on a presentable smile on her face and opened the door, the smile was immediately replaced with a scowl. Standing at the door step was the Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak. "Ah, hello Dragonborn. My guards were right, you are here in my city..."

Emalia narrowed her eyes. "One, why did you knock on my door at this unholy hour of the morning. Two, I bet you're here about your war. I go to Solitude, General Tullius will come to my door! I go to Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak will come to my door!"

The Jarl smiled with mild amusement, obviously not picking up that Emalia wasn't very happy that day. "Well, for starters, it is actually ten in the morning, according to the sun's angle. Secondly, I am here to talk about the war. I was hoping that the Dragonborn could see the worthiness of the cause and join it to make sure that the Thalmor scum are driven back to where they came from. Besides, you have many connections, those may be useful."

Emalia put a hand on her hip and leaned on the door frame. "Can't you just leave me alone? I do not want any part in this war! Nor do any of the Companions! Listen, I have no problem with your wanting to worship Talos, but I think you're taking it way to far by not letting any of the other races have equality! What of the Argonians? The Khajiit? The Orcs? Don't even get me started on the Dunmer, you treat the Mer like..." She bit her tongue to stop herself from starting to spit curses in Ulfric Stormcloak's face. "Look, Nords aren't superior. Nobody is. So far, the only Nords who I've met who understand that are the ones from Whiterun. Well, one took a while to warm up to the fact, but still!"

She shook her head in annoyance and looked Ulfric in the eye. "I went to Sovngarde and back, the realm of the glorious dead and of the Nordic gods. Did Talos come marching up to me and start telling me off for not worshipping him? I don't think so. In fact, _Kodlak Whitemane_ came up to me and said I could do whatever the hell I wanted with my life, in a poetic way."

Ulfric frowned and narrowed his eyes. "If you aren't with me, then you are against me."

Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Emalia was ready to lose her cool. "You stupid oaf! I'm on nobody's side! Can't you see that?"

Emalia gripped the door frame to keep her fists from marring Ulfric's face. The leader of the rebellion turned back. "I thought as much, you Elves are good for nothing. Worthless. Pathetic. I don't need you. Even if you are the Dovahkiin, you're nothing. Ever since that _incident_ a few years ago, you've haven't been the strong leader that we hoped for. Just a weak ghost of the glory that you used to hold. Ever since that ship came back from Solstheim, you've not been the woman who would lead the Stormcloaks into battle against the Imperials."

"_SHUT UP!"_ Emalia screamed. "_JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"_

She slammed the door and pressed her back against the door. The walls around her seemed so small. She could hear her heart beat thumping in her ears. Her shaky breath echoing in the silence. Emalia felt tears welling in her eyes, her emotions threatened to burst out and turn her into an emotional wreck. After a while, she managed to rein in her feelings and she stood back up. Emalia walked quietly up to the upper levels of her house. "He's gone." She called out.

A door cracked open and a pale hand reached out to grasp the doorframe. Gelebor stepped out, a confused expression on his face. "Are you alright? I heard you shouting..."

Emalia waved her hand, as if trying to shoo the matter away. "It's fine, Ulfric was just getting on my nerves."

Gelebor nodded, but obviously wasn't believing her. "Anyway, we need to leave. Like, now. The Northern Maiden will probably be at the docks by now. Get that cloak on and pull the hood as far down as you dare to hide your face."

* * *

When they left, Gelebor kept a close eye on Emalia. She was acting... strangely. Her footsteps dragged against the ground ever so slightly and she walked slower than usual, as if reluctant to go somewhere. But upon her face was a smile. Gelebor found it extremely hard to see through Emalia's expression unless he saw her break down. The Dragonborn was a very good liar when she needed to be, and was concentrating properly... She greeted the gate guards with the same smug expression and opened the towering gates. A dock covered in slippery ice awaited them. Walking around, working, were Argonians, Dunmer and Nords. Emalia led him to one particular ship, one which seemed more well suited for traveling far. She headed directly to a tall blonde Nord who stood by the starboard rail. "Captain Gjalund!" She called out.

The Nord turned around and smiled. "Emalia! I haven't seen you in a while! You're looking well."

The Elf smiled. "So are you, my friend." She leaned in close. "I need a passage to Solstheim."

Captain Gjalund raised an eyebrow. "You really shouldn't go you know, it's destroying you..."

Gelebor considered those words. What did the captain of the ship mean when he said that trips to Solstheim were destroying Emalia? "No! You don't understand, I have a different reason!"

Emalia gestured to Gelebor, who still wore his hood. "Who is this?" Gjalund asked.

"I'll explain later, I can't say anything here... Too many eyes..."

Gjalund narrowed his eyes. "I won't have a criminal you are trying to save on this ship..."

Emalia sighed in frustration. "He's not a criminal! He's... Different. But it's not safe here! Please! You've helped me so much in the past! You're the only one I can trust around here. Ulfric came to my doorstep this morning trying to force me to join him, the guards despise me despite what I've done for this city and they all judge me because I am a Bosmer! Please, I'm begging you! I'll pay you double!"

The captain sighed. "Okay, okay. Keep your gold. I'll take you across. But as soon as we're far enough, you must tell me who he is."

Emalia thanked him over and over again. Gjalund shouted orders to the deckhands and soon enough they were off.

* * *

"Now, tell me, who is he?"

Gjalund had led Emalia and Gelebor to the lowest section of the boat and locked the door, lighting only a single torch to provide light. Emalia looked over to Gelebor and nodded. "It's fine, he's a friend."

Gelebor took a deep breath and pushed the hood back. "I am Gelebor, the last of the true Snow Elves."

Gjalund gasped, unable to move. He had never seen such a creature. Only heard of them in tales of old. "Impossible..." He breathed.

Emalia then interrupted. "On Solstheim I found an ancient tome and took it to Gelebor after nobody was able to translate it. We found out that there may be a group of Snow Elves living on the island of Solstheim somewhere in the glaciers. That's why we need to get to Solstheim. I had no choice but to hide his identity, due to the violent past between Nords, or Atmorans, and the Snow Elves. The sole purpose why Ysgramor had his mighty axe crafted, in order to slay the Snow Elves and claim the land of Skyrim. Then–"

"Okay, Emalia, we get it." Gjalund said.

Gelebor looked back and forth between Emalia and Gjalund. How did Emalia possibly know so much about that? Suddenly, Gjalund cleared his throat. "Emalia, if you don't mind, I would like to discuss some things with Gelebor. Alone, please."

At first, she seemed reluctant. Then she left without a protest. As soon as her foot steps faded, Gjalund turned to Gelebor. "You don't know, do you?"

Gelebor furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"This all has to do with her knowledge, her sense of honour, her sadness and her... her grief."

Finally, answers... Gelebor nodded. "I'm listening."

"It's because of an incident, a year ago. I don't know exactly what happened, but one day she took someone close to her to Solstheim, then the next week she returned. She was an emotional wreck. Nobody was with her. She was alone. Across her back was a steel greatsword far to big for a little elf like her and in her hand she held a single bloodstained arrow. Her eyes were red and her head was bleeding heavily. She was bruised, scratched and all. She walked up to the docks and fainted. I took back to the boat and when she awoke I asked her what happened. All she replied was, "All my fault." And nothing else."

Gelebor finally put the two pieces together. "That's why..." He breathed.

Gjalund nodded. "It's driving her mad, she's going insane. By every visit she grows more and more insane. So whatever you do, don't you ever let her lead you anywhere near the place she calls 'Netch Glen'."

In a way, Gelebor wanted to see what that place was, to answer more questions. But he knew what was best. "Okay."

Gjalund smiled. "Good. Now pull that hood back up. When Emalia wants to keep a secret, it needs to be kept. If you bump into her, tell her that I was telling you all I know about the glacier and how I found it very unlikely that there would be Snow Elves."

Gelebor nodded and was about to leave. "Oh, Gelebor, one last thing."

He turned around. "Yes?"

"Good luck."

**Hope you liked it! Please review if you think I need to work on something. Favourite if you liked it and Follow if you're looking forward to the next chapter! Until next time!**


	5. Heading Off

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it :D By the way, there are some references to 'Challenges of a Warrior' in this chapter, see if you can catch them!**

Emalia leant against the starboard railing, and gazed out to the horizon as the Northern Maiden skimmed over the sea. The sun was slowly sinking. It was winter, as it always was in Skyrim, and the sun was never out for long. Cold ocean spray burned Emalia's cheeks where the wind had made her skin raw and sensitive. Emalia looked up at the sky and closed her eyes. The motion of the waves was soothing, albeit a little sickening, and the cold wind was crisp and refreshing. She opened her eyes and leaned down over the side with a hand outstretched, as if trying to reach for the water. "Far over the sea..." She whispered. "Where distant lands may be..."

Emalia looked up to the sky once again. _Travel so far, 'til the roads are familiar... _

Someone else used to complete her song, but he wasn't there with her to do so. She looked back to the horizon and sighed. "One day, I'll reunite with you... When this is all over, I'll see you again." She sang to the sky.

Emalia found a bench to sit on and continued to gaze up at the sky. "I know you can see me. You watch me, you guide me, you help drive me. You promised that you would, and I know that you wouldn't break that promise we made..."

She sighed and leaned back a little "It's beautiful where you are now. You can see the skies, ever shifting and glittering. The valley with a carpet of mist... Silvery trees touching the sky... The Whalebone Bridge... I can see it... I wish I could see it once again... Odahviing doesn't want to take me though. Do you remember Odahviing? The red dragon which took me to where you are now all those years ago..."

Emalia giggled and recited a little tune she made up long time ago;

_"Riding on a dragon_

_Oh yes I am_

_Riding!_

_On a grumpy grumpy dragon."_

Soon, her grin faded away. "I missed you so much back then. But now I realize just how much I really do miss you... It's so lonely here without you. The others hate me now... Because... Because of what I did..."

A tear trickled down her cheek. "I might say that I miss you, but I think your brother misses you even more..." A sob escaped her lips. "He would have killed me, he wanted to kill me for what I did... Gwen stopped him just before he did... But she was just as angry as him... They'll never accept me again..." Emalia cast her gaze to the floor. "They'll never accept me as Harbinger ever again..."

"Harbinger of what?"

Emalia jumped and looked to the side, Gelebor was there, watching her. "Were you there the whole time?!" She shrieked.

Gelebor shook his head. "No, but I did hear quite a bit."

He looked up as the sky and furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't see anyone up there, who were you talking to?"

"What question do you want answered?" Emalia demanded, still furious about his intrusion to her private conversation with... Well, someone...

"Fine, Harbinger of what?"

Emalia cast her gaze to the ground once again. "Harbinger of the Companions." She whispered.

Just as Gelebor was about to reply, she budged in again. "But that was long ago! Before all this nonsense happened."

Gelebor opened his mouth to say something again but Emalia gave him one of the most fearsome growls he'd ever heard. "Don't push it..."

He was shocked, he'd never seen such a fearsome, no... Bestial, side of Emalia. There was much he didn't know about her... Then her facial expression melted back to her normal one, a small smile, but her eyes filled with wisdom and sadness. "I-I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me... I... I'm tired... I'll talk later."

She stood up and left, leaving a rather confused Gelebor to his thoughts.

* * *

Gelebor just couldn't fit all of the pieces of the puzzle together, it was all terribly confusing. There were so many things he really didn't know about her, she was a mystery... A puzzle that needed to be solved. All he could figure out was she had many different sides to her. The most common was the carefree side of her, the one which she normally showed when there wasn't anything which made her shift into another side of her. Her depressed side, the one which came up every now and again. A smile was never seen when she was in that mood, only the gloomy look of despair in her eyes. Then there was her 'no-nonsense' side, when she would explain and talk until all she had to say was done. Last of all, there was her ferocious side. She would growl, snarl and yell in that mood. The look she would give you made you think that death would be over you in two seconds flat. Something else Gelebor managed to piece together was that different emotions caused different sides of her to surface. Any mention of something in the past would trigger her depression, any mention of something that she hated would trigger her ferocity, any mention of something factual such as history or monsters which needed to be fought made her a strong leader and any mention of something casual as the weather or something similar would cause her to be quite normal. "Why does she act like this..." Gelebor muttered.

He looked up to the sky, just as Emalia was doing. Perhaps to get at least a trace of something that she was thinking of. Stars were glimmering, peaking through the thin, wispy, clouds. "Stars... Stars... Stars... What could they symbolize?"

* * *

The next day, Emalia watched as the shore slowly came to view. She saw the tall reddish brown walls which surrounded the settlement of Raven Rock. Along the top of the wall were guards garbed in bone armor, patrolling and keeping an eye out for the deadly inhabitants of the island. Around the outsides of the walls roamed the strange creatures which the locals called a Netch. They looked a little like a stone archway with long tentacles which trailed along the ground. Their underbellies glowed a soft blue light, it was quite beautiful to see them at night. The Netch were completely harmless unless you provoked them and were lovely to walk around with when you were along. Soon, they docked and stepped on to the earth once again. Emalia wobbled a little, still not used to the solid earth after their long time on the ship, but straightened quite quickly afterwards. Gelebor pulled his hood back on once again in order to make sure that nobody saw his face. "Right, now I just need to get something from my home here!" Emalia declared out loud.

She waved good bye and thanked Gjalund before she marched off to the other end of the city. "Ho there, sera!" Yelled a coarse voice.

Emalia spun around and smiled. "Captain Veleth! It's good to see you again!"

She walked up to a tall Dunmer man wearing similar armor to all of the guards, the man's face was ashen gray, like all dunmer, and his eyes squinting, possibly because of the fact that there was so much ash blowing around everywhere. Emalia clasped his forearm, and he did the same to her. A greeting between two warriors. "How fares the fight against the Ash Spawn?" Emalia asked.

"Ever since you fought them, they dare not come to attack us here! I couldn't thank you enough." Captain Veleth then looked behind Emalia. "Who is that you have with you?"

Emalia looked around worriedly. "I can't tell you, I'm sorry. But he's with me, this man won't cause you any trouble, I promise."

Captain Veleth nodded slowly. "Hmph, if you say so. You've proven your worth countless times, so I trust you."

Emalia sighed in relief and thanked the Dunmer. "Thank you so much. Don't worry, I won't be hanging around with him here for too long. I'm heading out to the glacier. I'll possibly stop by the Skaal village. Veleth, I have something I have to ask of you..."

"What do you need, sera?"

"If anyone is following my trail, stop them immediately. I'm on a quest of utmost secrecy at the moment and I can't have anyone on my tail. So if anyone asks for me, tell them I'm not here, I left to Skyrim two weeks ago to return to Jorrvaskr. Got it?"

Veleth nodded. "Alright, I know how you are with your secret quests. I'll make sure that's done."

"Thank you once again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and fetch something quickly."

Emalia dashed off, Gelebor followed her. She led him to the edge of town and to a small looking house. "Okay, come with me."

She opened the door and Gelebor found out that the house was actually so much bigger than he thought. Emalia ran down the stairs which led to a huge underground home. She walked into a room full of weapons and mannequins all wearing all sorts of armor. Gelebor walked up to one and felt the material of the armor. "This seems familiar..." He muttered.

"Thank's because it's Ancient Falmer armor! I found a set when you sent me to murder your brother!"

Gelebor winced at those words. Emotions flooded him and he walked away from the set of armor. Emalia was rummaging through a chest, looking for something. "Ah! Here it is!"

She held up a large black book with strange patterns on the cover. Emalia then whipped around and gave Gelebor a death stare. "Don't you _DARE _try to look in this book. Ever." She snarled.

Emalia shoved it into her satchel and stood up. "Okay, we're heading off!


	6. First Come The Dreams

**Okay! Here is another chapter! Now, I hope you guys have revised on your knowledge of Challenges of a Warrior, because, yet again, there are some hints to things that happened in there ;) I got a huge brainwave yesterday and now I am full of ideas! I promise you that you'll get some chapters quite quickly, once I work out how this idea will work in this story :D Anyway, enjoy this part which I have typed up just for you guys :P**

The ash in the air caused Emalia's intakes of air to sound raspy and coarse, she wasn't as used to the bad condition of the air after quite some time away from Solstheim. Emalia kept a strong hand over her satchel, protecting it from any thieving or curious hands. _I will not repeat the mistake I made_. Emalia thought firmly.

Gelebor glanced at everything which he was unfamiliar with, all the plants, the animals, the landscape. He'd been used to the snow covered valleys of the Forgotten Vale, this must be like an entirely different world to him... Emalia shivered and pulled her cloak tightly around her. Being a Bosmer, the cold wasn't very compatible with her. She was used to the warm, humid, forests of Valenwood. It didn't matter how long she stayed in Skyrim, she would still be shivering at the slightest traces of cold. Her steps sent little puffs of ashen sand spiraling in the air like dark snowflakes. The sky was a purplish gray, but on the good days was a pale orange. Faint aurora borealis shimmered in the sky, like ghostly snakes squirming across stones. Stars were just beginning to appear, but no moon was in sight yet. Emalia and Gelebor had been traveling for most of the day and their feet ached from so much use. Though the island was small, it was still mountainous and covered with fire, ash and snow. After a little while more of walking, they came to a small clearing in the forest of sickly looking trees. "We rest here for the night." Emalia declared.

She dropped her things and fell to the floor, which only caused clouds of ash to puff up and cause her to sneeze. Emalia pulled out a tinderbox, found a few scraps of wood and started a small fire. Gelebor laid his sword and sat by the fire. He seemed entranced by the dancing flames. Emalia sighed and looked to the horizon. "Most people think Solstheim is just a barren wasteland of ash and snow..." She muttered.

Gelebor turned to look at her, then followed her gaze. "I, personally, think that this 'wasteland' has a certain beauty..." Emalia added.

The Snow Elf snorted. "I'm not sure I can see what you mean. Burnt trees aren't exactly the most flattering."

Emalia glared at him for a moment. "Look at it from a different perspective. In the perspective of someone who has experienced a lot and knows that you don't just have to look at something as an empty picture. Every painting has a hidden meaning."

She sighed and continued to gaze at the sky. "Get some rest..." She told Gelebor. "We have a long road tomorrow."

Emalia heard the Snow Elf get up and walk away. She closed her eyes and savored the sound of the wind. Her throat burned from the ash and fumes which tainted the air of Morrowind, but she barely minded it. There were more things that made her feel pain... She leaned back and lay on the ashen sand, her long locks framing her face and tickling her cheeks. Emalia gazed up at the glittering skies. She closed her eyes and felt her consciousness drifting away, pulling her spirit to the sky. She soared past stars, constellations and time until she floated in the middle of eighteen unique constellations. Emalia turned to one she was the most familiar with and reached out for the only star that didn't glow as bright as the rest, the last one at the very tip. Then she heard her name being called out, over and over again. The tone was more of curiosity and not anger. "Vilkas, I'm doing something..." She muttered subconsciously.

She touched the star and felt it's power flow through her veins, Emalia smiled and sighed. Her mind longed to stay amongst the stars for longer, but her name was _still _being called! With a huff, she slowly returned to her senses in the normal world. She opened her eyes, her gaze met with a Snow Elf's pale blue gaze, not the silver eyes she had hoped to see. A content smile on her face soon faded away. "Who's Vilkas?" Gelebor asked.

Emalia's heart broke at the sound of that name. A single tear trickled down her cheek, smudging the war paint around her eyes. She wished she could answer, but her throat burned with grief and pain. Guilt flooded through her and Emalia clenched her fists. Anger, grief, depression, sorrow, anguish, pain, rage and guilt swirled in her mind. She bit her lip and looked away. "It's nothing... Just a memory..." She whispered.

One name, and so much hurt swelled up inside of her. Emalia felt tears threatening to spill, sobs straining to rip from her lips, wails of anguish wanting echoing in her mind and guilt wanting to send a sword through her heart. Gelebor sensed her emotions and knew he shouldn't push the topic, no matter how much he wanted to know something. Without a word, Emalia stood up and walked over to where she had set up her bed roll. She slipped out of her armor and slid into the bed roll without a word. There was silence. But if Gelebor listened closely, he could hear soft sobbing from Emalia's form.

* * *

_Emalia walked in a silent forest, all the colour had been stripped from the leaves of the towering trees which presided over her like great gods towering over their subjects. She could feel a dark presence watching her from afar. There was a long howl, then the sound of a powerful creature running after her. Emalia gasped as she saw a dark form running towards her. She ran, branches clawing her face and ripping out locks of her hair. As she ran, pain rippled through her body. Her heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest and her muscles felt as if they were being stretched. Emalia could hear the loud, slow, thumping of her heart in her ears. Each heart beat caused the world to pulse and flicker darker and darker. A loud amused laugh echoed through the forest, the laugh of a deity watching it's subjects suffer... And enjoying it. "Run, little Companion! Run as fast as you can! But you can never hide from me..." A voice growled._

_Emalia screamed in horror and ran even harder and faster than before. Then a huge creature jumped out and forced her to fall to the ground painfully. Just as she was about to scramble back up, a large boot forced her to the ground. She tilted her head and got a glimpse of a giant set of stag horns. A spear grazed the back of her neck and the same evil chuckle sounded again, but closer. She felt a hot breath against her neck, causing her skin to prickle. "The Lord of the Hunt _always_ get's his prey in the end..." Snarled the voice, now close to her ear._

_Pure terror ran through Emalia's veins, but she couldn't scream or move. "After you stole those who were _my _property, I cannot tell you how angry I was... And how angry one of their friends were... Isn't that right my loyal hound?"_

_She heard the deep growl of a wolf nearby. "If I can't get what was rightfully mine, at least I have the pleasure of torturing the one who stole my prey... My... Friend, Haemerous Mora, has already started to break you... Now I shall strip you of your sanity, drive you to madness, and destroy you. I will rip any sense of hope and happiness that once lived within you... You will suffer for all of your actions against me, Companion!"_

_The spear point was pushed deeper into Emalia's skin, now drawing blood. "I will make sure that you will never join your loved ones... I will destroy your already broken mind... Just you wait, Companion... Just you wait..."_

Emalia's eyes snapped open, she was drenched in cold sweat and her heart was pumping fast. She whipped her head around fearfully, her hair flying. She sighed in relief when she saw nothing. But after a few moments, reality hit her. "I've really pissed off a Daedric Prince..." She muttered.

* * *

When Gelebor awoke, Emalia was wide awake. Sitting by the fire, her eyes darting everywhere at any sound. When she wasn't distracted, Emalia stared at the dancing flames as if looking for a sign in the fire. "What's wrong?" He asked.

She squeaked at looked over at him, tension left her body and she let out a sigh of relief. "N-nothing... It's okay." She muttered. "Just a bad dream..."

Gelebor didn't say anything and gathered up his things. Then he heard a sigh from Emalia. "I think I've angered a Daedric Prince..." She whispered fearfully.

He turned around and regarded her with a strong gaze. "That's bad. Very bad. What have you done to anger such a dark deity?"

Emalia shrugged. "I don't know! But I just know that it is Hircine who's wrath I should fear. I heard his laugh and he taunting me, saying that he was going to 'break my already broken heart'."

"'Already broken heart?'"

Emalia nodded, but didn't say anything else. "He must be mad at me about that time... When..." She slowly trailed off, as if refusing to finish her sentence.

Gelebor knew not to push her, so he said nothing else. He was just satisfied that he actually learnt something from her. Emalia let out a breath and stood up, dusting the ash from her leggings and cloak. "Well! We best get going! It's a long road ahead of us and we aren't even close to the glacier yet!"

**Please review, follow, favourite and that sort of stuff :3 You know, the usual :P**


	7. Tales of Solstheim

**Wow! I typed this chapter up pretty damn quick! I must be excited for something to happen later *sly smirk* Anyways! Here's a little something, another chapter, for you guys :D It's gonna get pretty exciting soon!**

**I wanna take this opportunity to just say thank you to those awesome people who reviewed: MissFabulous09 and lioness84! Those reviews really motivated me and put a smile on my face for a whole day :D *hugs***

**Alright! Now let's get into the story!**

"So tell me," Gelebor began. "When did you first come here?"

Emalia looked back, then at the tall mountain which stood at the middle of the island. "Well... I was wondering around Skyrim when some cultists came and claimed I was the fake Dragonborn, being me I shot them with my bow and felled them with a single arrow. Pathetic fools know nothing of the power which I wield!"

Gelebor was tempted to step back a bit, feeling a little intimidated by Emalia's proclaims of great power. Perhaps she wielded her emotions as a mask of the true strength she hid within her. Emalia didn't seem to notice him too much. "I found a letter saying that they were ordered to assassinate under the name of the true Dragonborn, Miraak. I soon found out that they were creating this cult of theirs on the island of Solstheim. I sent a letter back to whiterun to tell them that I would be away for quite some time. With that, I was off. I found Captain Gjalund and got a passage to Solstheim. Upon arrival, I was scorned by the Dunmer who lived there. But I eventually gained their trust at a later date, I can tell you that tale later. I explored the area, asked a few questions and came across a rather strange stone which was being... Built? I guess? And standing there, doing nothing was a Dunmer wizard!"

By Emalia's outburst of annoyance, he guessed that she didn't exactly like that wizard too much. "Carry on..." He prompt.

She sighed and continued her tale. "Anyways, the wizard pointed me to the ruins at the top of that mountain. You can see them slightly from here!"

Emalia pointed up at the mountain and traced the shape of unfinished spires which reached, like broken fingers, to the sky. "We'll have to go up there soon, but I'd rather take my time. I have some... Bad memories from that place. It's dark and under the influence of a Daedra."

Gelebor quickly understood why she wouldn't want to go up there. She knew that she had made one of the Daedric Princes mad and didn't dare to go up there and encounter one. But by the tone of her voice, he could tell that they would have to go up there. At least, go past there. "Anyways," She quickly added. "I went up there and found many people building that wretched place, amidst the monotone chanting of the brainwashed people who were building the structure, I heard the cries of a woman begging them to try and free themselves from Miraak's grasp."

"Who was that woman?"

"Her name was Frea, she was one of the Skaal people who lived close to the glacier. I'm sure we will meet her some day one our journey. Back to the story, I approached her and she was so glad that she had finally found someone who wasn't under the strong influence of Miraak. I learnt much from her about the island and Miraak, who was apparently the first Dragonborn and a Dragon Priest who turned against his masters, the dragons. Or should I say, the _Dov..._"

Her voice thrummed with power, like it always did when she uttered a word in the dragon tongue. Emalia felt a sliver of power slither down her spine. She shuddered and shook the feeling away. She hadn't used a shout for a long time and now her _Thu'um_ was straining to be released from her lips. The souls of the dragons which resided in her screamed for her to release their power. She reined her power and managed to swallow down the feeling which was building up inside of her. "Frea and I delved into the temple which was being rebuilt, the first level looked all new. But the deeper we went, the more ancient and crushed the temple looked. After almost days of venturing through the vast labyrinth, we finally made it to a chamber with a single Black Book. I could feel the power of the Daedric lords flowing off of it in dark waves, but I knew that I had to do something with it. I picked it up and flipped it to the first page. As soon as I did so, I was pulled into the book by a thick, black, oily tentacle. But I was still in that room physically, a tentacle still wrapped around my neck. The screams of my soul didn't come out of my mouth, and all Frea could do was wait."

She paused for dramatic effect, and also the chill of the dark memory was haunting. She sometimes thought that she could feel the ice cold, slimy, surface coiled around her neck, squeezing her soul out of her body... "I was pulled into a dark swirling vortex. When the chaos around me disappeared, I was met by something even worse. I stood on a platform, made of some sort of unrecognizable metal, which floated into the middle of an oily black sea. I could see no end to that vast expanse of fluid. Swimming in the water were more of those black tentacles, but those ones were thicker and barbed. Much more deadly than the ones that pulled me there. There was no proper source of light, only strange bulbs which glowed an eerie green light. Standing in front of me was a man garbed in deep purple robes. He turned towards me, and his face was covered in a bronze mask. I knew at that moment that I was facing a powerful Dragon Priest, for his mask was of a unique design. Horns seemed to protrude from the back of the mask, metal and coming from the mask itself, and the design of tentacles covered his mouth."

Gelebor shuddered, imagining the dreadful world that Emalia described to him. He hoped that he wouldn't ever see such a thing like that for the rest of his extended lifetime. Emalia continued on with her tale with the same depth of description. "I was going to attack him, but he lashed out. I fell to my knees and was kept down with magical bonds. Miraak walked up to me and merely laughed. Behind him came two hideous creatures, covered in rags and made of tentacles which trailed along the floor, and swooping from the sky was a dragon like none other I had seen before. He walked up to me and glared at me through the slits of the mask. Miraak claimed that he was the strongest of all Dragonborn, and even dared to say that I, Emalia, did not slay Alduin!"

She saw confusion upon Gelebor's face and decided to explain. "A few years back, I destroyed the World-Eater–"

"No, I know who he is when I read through the many books which were stored in the grand libraries of the Chantry and by studying the books which you carelessly throw around everywhere. I believe you left a book, Great Harbingers, at the Chantry."

Emalia blushed, knowing that she was _very _bad at keeping all of her books in check. Which was why... She shook the thought out of her head and let Gelebor to finish what he was saying before. "Besides that, I didn't know that you were capable of..."

Emalia folded her arms over her chest crossly. "Are you doubting my strength?"

"No! I –"

"I can tear a man's limbs off, set you aflame, freeze you in ice, strip a dragon's immortality from it's body, disarm you and cause you to feel fear beyond anything you've experienced before by uttering three words. I can send one arrow through you and you'd be dead in six seconds. I can beat a man in a brawl one on one. I can wield a two handed sword meant for a man stronger and much tall than me–"

"Like the one which you carry around all the time."

It was in that instant Gelebor knew that he had hit a sensitive topic, in a flash her gaze turned fiery and furious. Her hand lashed forward and she caught his arm in an iron grip. She really wasn't lying about anything she said, for she had the strength of a woman with twice the amount of muscle as her. "Yes, and I can send it through a man's heart without hesitation if he tries to prod at topics which are better to be kept _under the surface_." She hissed menacingly.

Emalia released his arm, but her gaze was still threatening. She walked in silence for a while before continuing her tale. "In the end, Miraak got what was coming for him. On the highest peak of Apocrypha, after slaughtering three dragons, one of which I had befriended, I sent an arrow through his heart and the Daedric Lord Haemerous Mora speared him with a tentacle and tore the flesh from his bones. But that is the only time I had any shred of respect for the dark lord of fate and knowledge... Now all I know is _hatred_ for him..."

**For you smart people, I've been dropping various clues around ;3 I'm not saying clues of what, but soon you'll see... Oh my, I just have so many ideas for this story! I can't wait to share them to you :D Okay! Until next time! **


	8. It's Always The Blizzards!

**Wow, this is a pretty long chapter! ... Kinda :P Anyways, I'm pretty proud with this! Oh, I can't wait to type more of the story :D Okay, here it is! Enjoy :)**

The shadow of the now abandoned temple darkened the sky, the air was tinged an unnatural shade of yellowish green. But what other choice of campsite did Emalia and Gelebor have? It was nearly midnight and their feet ached. Emalia hated the place. Dragon half buried in the ash and snow jutted out of the ground like ivory trees, the shadows seemed to be like talons reaching out for your life energy, the air itself seemed almost like poison by the colour and taste of it. Everything about the place was tainted at evil. Emalia clutched her satchel, she could feel the Black Book within thrumming with power as it neared a place which it was familiar with. It was building up more energy, for it was in a place where the Daedric Prince of Forbidden Knowledge was know to have a strong hand, or should tentacle, on. Emalia led Gelebor closer to the cliffs and ducked under an overhang. "We rest here for the night, but we shall not have a fire."

Emalia regretted those words as soon as they came out of her mouth. But what choice did she have? She couldn't risk being spotted in such a wild and dangerous area. A cold chill clung to her skin and a shiver travelled up her spine. _NO! Not this again! You must get used to the cold!_ Her mind screamed at her body.

Emalia pulled her cloak around her tightly and huddled up in a desperate attempt to keep warm. Dragon souls screeched inside of her, begging her to let out her Thu'um to warm herself. She refused. She managed to survive this long! An unforgiving wind started to blow, harsher and louder than any other she had felt before. Emalia watched as the snow and ash started to churn and be tossed by the gust of wind. Gelebor seemed unfazed by the sudden drop of temperature, but Emalia started to shiver violently. Gelebor noticed almost immediately and furrowed his brows worriedly. "Emalia, are you okay?"  
"F-f-fine... J-just fine-e-e." She stuttered.

Gelebor paid no heed to her words and started rummaging through his things. "No, we need to get a fire going. It doesn't matter what you say, a little elf like you isn't suited to these conditions. It doesn't matter how long you've been in Skyrim or explored this place, your blood will never change. You're still not going to adapt to the cold."

He pulled out a tinderbox, but he could never manage to make a spark. "The gods are against us in this unholy place!" He shouted angrily.

He looked through his things, trying to find wood. But any scraps they had left were damp and unusable. But then an idea came to mind. "Wait! You were talking about a group of people, the Skaal, who lived on the island in the colder parts!"

Emalia nodded, still shaking. But Gelebor could tell that the cold was sapping the strength from her bones. Unlike him, she wasn't immune to the cold. "Are they nearby?" He asked.

"B-barely... W-w-won't-t-t-t mak-k-ke it..."

Gelebor hardly heard what she said, he pulled Emalia to her feet and gripped her arms tightly. "We will." He said firmly.

With that, he and Emalia entered the storm.

* * *

Emalia was chilled to the bone, her cloak was now damp from all of the snow battering it and now was useless. How useless it was that her Bosmer blood only made her immune to diseases and poison, not that it wasn't useful most of the time. Soon, she felt a pounding headache swelling within her skull and a fire starting to burn in her body. She still shivered and felt the cold, but the contrast between the two temperatures wasn't welcoming. Dizziness made the world swim and her steps unsteady. The lids of her eyes stung whenever she blinked. She felt a ravaging thirst pull at her throat, but she knew that any water would either be freezing cold or frozen solid. Either way, she wouldn't want to drink that in the freezing temperatures she was experiencing. Emalia's limbs started to shake and become weaker and weaker as she fell prey to cold. She swore she saw things in the midst of the swirling snowstorm. Images of family, friends, daedra and monsters. Emalia sucked in a breath, but the unhealthy wheezing noise of when she inhaled made her cringe. Snow and ice made her throat sting, ash clogged it and the wind took away any traces of fluid. Suddenly her vision blurred and she fell to the ground limply. Her eyes were half open and her thoughts churned and babbled. She could hear someone shouting for her to get up, but her mind was too hazy and Emalia felt as if the snow was reaching out and dragging the warmth and strength from her body. Darkness started to fog her vision and then the world went black.

* * *

Gelebor muttered curses and tried to waken Emalia, but the only sign of movement he got from her was the feeble rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to take in a breath. His fingers brushed against her cloak to find it soaking wet from the snow and freezing cold. He held his hand on her forehead to find it burning, small shivers went through Emalia's body and she muttered feverishly. "I have to find that village..." He muttered.

Gelebor scooped Emalia out of the snow and started to trudge through the thick snow. Every now and then the Bosmer would jolt and scream, scaring Gelebor every time she did so. He didn't even want to think of what dreams she was having. The glare of the snow and the stinging sensation of it seemed to be blinding Gelebor as he continued through the snowstorm. He prayed and prayed to Auri-El, hoping that the divine deity could hear his pleas. Through the blurred and blotched vision he now had, Gelebor could make out a cobblestone path... He could only hope it was the right way.

* * *

_The snow is coming down hard, the All-Maker is sending us his great strength through the winds tonight..._

Frea pulled her thick woolly hood over her head. Most of the Skaal were in their homes, some were brave enough to guard the village, as she did at the time. She did it partially in her mother's memory, who had died from a storm just like this one fateful day. The cold didn't affect her too much, due to the thick coat and clothing which she wore on a daily basis, not to mention the light stalhrim armor plating which was underneath the layer of wool and animal skins. Strapped around her belt were her trusty weapons, Frea knew the dangers of the unforgiving landscape which the All-Maker had bestowed upon them. She brushed some snow off of her cheeks, which stung from windburn upon contact with her gloved hand. Then, she caught a sign of movement in the midst of the blizzard. Frea kept a hand on one of her weapons and squinted, she could just make out a hazy shape of someone out there, walking blindly in the snow. _Maybe the soul is snow-blinded? _She thought to herself.

But no... Upon further observation, she could make out the shape. A tall man with a limp body in his arms. He had a hood covering his face and a cloak concealing his armor. The woman's hood had been thrown back and her dark hair trailed behind her. She seemed to flinch and twitch every now and then. Suddenly, Frea recognized the woman. It was the Dragonborn! The man shouted for help, sadly not knowing how close he was. Frea looked behind her and decided to go and help, she had to! Trudging through the thick snow, she soon caught up to them. "Over here!" Frea yelled.

The man turned to the sound of her voice, into the direction of the wind. His hood was thrown back, revealing a face as pale as snow and eyes almost swollen shut but the icy blue just showing through. His short hair was spiked back and his ears were pointed but not as long as a Bosmer's or a Dunmer's. Frea had never seen such a being before, he looked like nothing on Tamriel. But he had the Dragonborn, which must mean that he was important to her in a way! "Follow my voice!" She yelled over the wind.

She walked through the snow, trying to get closer to the tall elf like being. Finally she was close enough and grabbed his arm. "It's okay! You're safe!"

He nodded and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Auri-El..." He muttered.

At that moment, the Dragonborn let out a pitiful scream of fear, twisting desperately out of the elf's grasp. Frea grabbed a hold of the Dragonborn and took off one of her gloves, she held it against the Dragonborn's forehead. Frea could feel blood boiling feverishly, unnaturally warm. She knew immediately something was wrong. Frea quickly put her glove back on and started to speak loudly over the howling of the wind. "Follow me! I will take you to the Skaal village!"

The elf let out another sigh of relief and thanked Frea over and over again. Just as she was about to lead them back, the elf suddenly asked "Are you, by any chance, Frea?"

She stiffened, the elf knew her name? She let out a breath and waved the matter away. "We will speak later. Right now, we must get out of this storm!"

* * *

_Horrible images! Horrible, horrible images were shown in Emalia's wretched dreams. Her family being tortured, the ones she loved being torn apart! No matter how much she screamed, nothing would ever change. She was whisked away into another dream world, reliving the past. There she was, desperately trying to escape the flaming breath of the World Eater, tripping over the burnt corpses of children, women, elves and soldiers alike. Screams piercing her ears and the stench of death strong and fresh. She was then whisked away to a scene were she fought a dragon, wielding nothing but a small hunting bow, along with some iron arrows, atop the tallest tower of a tall watchtower. The dragon breathed frost and fire in a desperate attempt to destroy her. As she sent an arrow through it's heart, it tumbled out of the sky screeching. Then she was learning how to control her shouts, releasing unknown energy from within. The pain of it was almost unbearable! How could she stand it on a day to day basis? She was then diving through ancient tombs and running across Skyrim, building up her skills. Emalia was dragged into a scene of her traveling up to Winterhold to try and discover the location of the Elder Scroll, the _Kel_, and then the cold took control of her body. Beating every inch of life from her, then she was rescued... A flood of happiness went through her as she experienced the best years of her life once again. Then she felt the victory of vanquishing Alduin flood through her veins. She was Emalia, the Dragonborn, and she was invincible! Then everything spiraled down hill. The sting of hateful words cut bitterly across her mind, the poisoning guilt stabbed at her fragile mind and crushed it. She saw the arrow arcing towards _him..._ The arrow colliding into him and the haze of madness lifting from his stunning silver eyes... The pain clawed at her in her dream state, both physically and mentally. She let out screams of anguish and begged for the torment to stop. Suddenly, everything went quiet... Not a sound was made in the darkness. "H-hello?" She called out fearfully, dream tears still trickling down her cheeks._

_"Emalia!" Called a voice._

_In the dark fog, she could make out the form of someone she hadn't seen in years on end... Her father... "Come! Become the hunter that you told me you'd be!"_

_"_NO! _You aren't real! You're an illusion!" She screamed, more tears flowing._

_"Don't you want to make your Fa happy? My little pup?"_

_Emalia clawed at her ears and turned away. "You're just an image! I refuse, Hircine! I refuse!"_

_The kindly sound of her father's voice soon turned into the feral snarl of a wolf. "If that is so..." _

BANG! _Hircine's disguise melted off, revealing the deer skull headed man who he was. Two wolves joined his side and growled menacingly at Emalia. "Then I shall force you to bow down at my feet! Hear my words and tremble, Emalia! Though you may be the Dragonborn, you still are a Companion and you still defied me and stole the souls which I should have claimed for my own! You take this as a small matter, but it is not! My strongest spirits are those of the Companions!"_

_The wolves started to advance, lips curling into snarls. She knew who they were, old Harbingers of the Companions, twisted by the many years spent in the dark realm which they now called their Hunting Grounds. Then, one leaped and fastened it's teeth into her neck. Even in the dream, she could feel the burning pain seething through her skin. She let out a scream of pain like no other and desperately tried to free herself. She saw Hircine loom over her and stroke her face with a spear point. "In two full moons time, your soul... Will be mine... And to rub the salt in the wound, I shall let your love know exactly what has become of you..."_

_His cunning laughter echoed in her ears. Emalia tried to tear away the monstrous wolf which was trying to rip out her throat, but it's grip on her was too tight. "Tear her soul apart..." She heard Hircine growl._

* * *

Gelebor watched worriedly as Frea catered to Emalia's needs, the Dragonborn was struggling even more violently and screaming in pain. Frea once again held her hand over Emalia's forehead, as if trying to figure out what was going on with the poor elf. "I can sense a dark power, perhaps even Daedric, working it's foul magic within her..."

Gelebor widened his eyes in fear, he already knew it was probably Hircine trying to twist Emalia's already tortured mind. "Emalia has been having dreams about a Daedric Prince, Hircine. But none were as violent as this..." Gelebor spoke.

Frea turned to him and tilted her head. "Why would that Daedric Prince have such a mind for revenge against the Dragonborn?"

Gelebor shrugged, feeling just as clueless as Frea was. "Emalia likes to keep her secrets close to her."

The Skaal woman let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, I know that well..."

Her smiled then faded away and she turned to Gelebor, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Who, or what, are you? And how have you become acquainted with the Dragonborn?"

The Snow Elf wasn't entirely sure if he should reveal his full identity yet. "Once Emalia has woken up, perhaps she will tell you."

Frea clearly wasn't satisfied enough, but she knew that she wasn't going to get anymore information other than what she currently had. They sat in silence for a while, praying to their gods that Emalia would wake up. Suddenly, the Dragonborn let out an ear-splitting scream and jolted away, breathing hard and completely terrified. "_Fel grohiik! Hevno _Hircine! _Nust unt wah kren hahdrim! Niid! Neh! Zu'u _Emalia _ahrk Dovahkiin!" _

**As usual, please review and favourite. Even follow if you want to know more :D Okay, I'll hopefully be back soon with more stuff! See ya!**


	9. The Skaal Village

**Well, here we are! The next chapter of the story! I'm pretty happy on how this turned out, and I'm trying my best to make sure that hidden meanings don't stand out too much (so far I've been doing a good job of hiding something in particular *smiles slyly* ANYWAYS! I really hope you're all enjoying the story so far! Here is the next part :D**

It took hours and hours to finally calm Emalia down, she claimed she saw Hircine's wolves out of the corners of her eyes and often went into moments of fearful silence. But eventually she managed to calm herself to a somewhat sane level of fear. "He's out to get me..." She moaned.

Frea sat by Emalia and put a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. "Calm yourself, Emalia. He's not going to... He's just trying to scare you..."

Emalia brushed Frea's hand off and looked straight into her eyes. "You don't understand. He wasn't just lying, he really does want revenge!"

Gelebor, who was sitting in the corner of the room watching Emalia, stood up with such force the chair he sat on crashed backwards. "Why?!" He yelled.

Emalia was hardly fazed by his sudden outburst and turned to Gelebor calmly. "It isn't any of your business."

"We're traveling together! I need to know some things, you realize that don't you?"

Emalia took a sip out of a tankard, her eyes still on Gelebor. Frea let out a soft chuckle. "You two argue like a couple."

_SLAM! _Emalia's tankard collided with the table, her eyes blazing with anger. "_YOU SPEAK LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING!" _She screamed.

Emalia stormed over to a room and slammed the door. Silence fell over the room. Frea slowly stood up and quietly motioned for Gelebor to get out of the small house they were in. He nodded and proceeded to do so, Frea followed after him. When they closed the door, Frea gave him a look. "We need to talk about something." Was all that she said.

Gelebor nodded, unsure of where this was going. Frea sighed and looked to the floor. "Where to begin? Alright... First of all, who and what are you?"

"My name is Gelebor, Knight-Paladin of the Chantry of Auriel. I am the last, or so I think, of my kind."

Frea crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "And your kind are?"  
"The Falmer, or Snow Elf."

The Skaal woman's eyes widened and she could only stare at Gelebor. Though she believed more in the All-Maker and wasn't an expert on history, she knew enough to know what Gelebor was. "T-that... That can't be possible! The Atmorans, the Five-Hundred Companions, eradicated all of them!"

"I, along with a few others, escaped. I was very young then, unknowing of many things. I learnt most things I know now from the Chantry. Swordplay, history, religion, language. Recently, Emalia found a tome pointing us to Solstheim, the glacier to be exact. It told of a colony of Snow Elves which possibly fled there! We came to investigate, but Emalia's... Recent behaviors have slowed our progress."

Frea looked around, as if checking for people, before proceeding to speak. "Emalia has some terrible memories from here. Things that have damaged her soul. They haunt her–"

"What does?!" Gelebor snapped suddenly.

He was so sick and tired of all these hidden meanings to things! He wanted to know what was happening! Why did everyone have to hide the truth from him? "What has made her so? Why does the Dragonborn of legend act as if she is nothing more than a shell of her former glory?"

"Stop! You do not understand! Have you ever had to kill the one you loved the most? Have you had to sacrifice so much that there was soon nothing left to give? Has a Daedra or a Divine wanted you dead so bad that they will do anything to torment you? Have you seen death hundreds upon hundreds of times? Have you ever been rejected by your closest allies or friends? Have you?"

Gelebor couldn't formulate a clever comeback. He hadn't realized just how much Emalia had gone through. "Listen to me," Frea insisted, "Emalia is falling apart! She doesn't have someone to hold her together! You need to be that person! If you are going to travel with her, at least befriend her more!"

Gelebor opened his mouth to say something, but Frea continued to talk. "I am one of the few who have experienced something that she has. In fact, I've been through the very thing which is making her fall apart! But she had it worse... Far worse... When she does speak to you again, you must get her to take you to Netch Glen! It doesn't matter what other people say, it's the only way you'll be able to find out the truth about her!"

Netch Glen... The name rang a bell, then Gelebor recalled Captain Gjalund telling him... Not to take Emalia there... But Frea insisted that this would be the only way to get answers. Eventually, he agreed. "Alright. I'll ask her to take me there. But... How will she react?"

"With tears, many many tears of grief and guilt. But she will be relieved. If you will finally be able to understand her, then she will not act as difficult. Emalia will know that you will understand and she will be more open towards you."

That was enough for Gelebor to hear. As soon as he could talk to Emalia again, he was going to do what Frea asked him to do. Just as he was about to head back inside, the sky turned stormy, as if foreshadowing something. There was a great _whumph _and ash and snow rose up from the ground. There was a terrible roar followed by the frenzied cries of "_DRAGON_!"

* * *

Emalia heard the door close, she heard the two conversing. But she didn't know what they were talking about. She walked over to a wall and sank against it. Emalia stared into space, unfocused and in a world between dreams and reality. In such dark situations, those two things weren't so different at all... Emalia's mind soon started to shift more into reality after a while of wallowing in self pity. She clenched her fists and looked up at the ceiling. "I haven't felt true power flowing through my veins for so long..." She whispered. "I need to use my bow..."

Then, under her feet, she felt the earth tremor. Emalia knew this feeling, this shiver of the land. She knew that only one creature truly had the power to create such energy. A strange smile spread upon her lips as she felt the rush of adrenaline pump through her veins. A battle. She was finally going to go into battle again with her most dangerous foe! Emalia swiped her bow, slung a quiver over her back and pulled on some armor. As much as she wanted to feel the exhilaration of fighting a dragon alone, she knew that she had to defend the small Skaal village.

* * *

Gelebor had never seen such a thing. The dragon was huge and its scales were coloured a deep hue of bronze. Frea dashed off to get the children to safety as soon as possible, Gelebor had the mind to help her when he saw a figure approaching. It was Emalia, but she had a different sort of attitude. She had a commanding aura about her, not like anything he'd ever seen before. A smile played upon her lips and her eyes gleamed with the thrill of a fight. She walked up to Gelebor and handed him Auriel's Bow along with a few arrows. "Help me slay the dragon. It is on of the Ancients and must be slain before it starts to prey on more people."

He merely nodded, and Emalia turned away and started to scale one of the small huts. Gelebor wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do, but he did know that his part in slaying the dragon was vital. He notched an arrow and pulled back the bowstring, aiming at the dragon's eye. He let the arrow fly, but it missed it's target by a bit. It didn't matter, for a blast of sunlight from the tip of the arrow blinded the dragon. It roared in fury and landed clumsily. After it lashed around blindly, it managed to make out the figure of Gelebor. It bared it's teeth and started to crawl forwards. Just as Gelebor was about to loose another arrow, he heard a thunderous shout. A blast of energy thrummed through the air and a powerful war cry followed afterwards. Arcing through the air, leaping off the roof of one of the houses, was Emalia. Covering her like a second layer of armor were ethereal dragon scales which ran across her figure and glowed blue, green, silver and gold with a brilliant glow. Ghostly horns curled from her forehead and around her mouth, spikes lined her back. She was surrounded by a swirling vortex of raw power and was like an avenging god, descending from the heavens. Her eyes seemed to glow golden and a vicious snarl was plastered upon her face. In mid air, Emalia shot three arrows at once and all hit their target, the back of the dragon's skull. It screamed in pain, then Emalia landed on it's back. She scaled the dragon with such skill and fluidity that you almost couldn't even see her because she was zipping around so fast! Emalia leaped atop the head and pulled out a gleaming steel sword which Gelebor had never seen before. She brought it high into the air and sent it down into the dragon's skull. The dragon screeched and convulsed violently, shaking Emalia off and sending her flying. She crashed into a house and was buried under a pile of rubble. The dragon shuddered one final time before falling to the ground, dead. Gelebor could hardly believe his eyes. Such a deadly, yet beautiful, creature killed with the swift blows and sharp arrows of Emalia... She truly was a force to be reckoned with! Silence fell over the whole village. A breath escaped Frea as she walked around the dragon corpse. "I... I've never seen such power..." She whispered.

Frea brushed her fingers against the scales and her eyes widened. Once Gelebor had shook himself out of his gaze, he dashed over to the rubble in which Emalia was buried in. "_EMALIA! DRAGONBORN! DRAGONBORN!_" He yelled.

Gelebor clawed his way through the wooden planks and finally brushed his hand against Emalia's scarred skin. He fished her out of the rubbled and saw a gash on the back of her head, bleeding heavily. One of her legs were bent in an unnatural fashion which sent shivers of discomfort down Gelebor's spine. Her eyes were half shut and blank, almost lifeless save for the faint flickering of her eyelids every now and then. Frea ran over and quickly pressed her hands against the flowing wound. "What are you doing!? Don't just stand there doing nothing, help her!" She screamed.

Suddenly, a spirit with similar ethereal armor as Emalia had came to be. A huge battle axe was strapped to it's back and it's eyes were blank and glowing. Gelebor took a step back and raised Auriel's Bow in defense. But it did not harm Emalia. Instead, it gazed upon Emalia's limp body and gently lifted her up. The spirit turned and started to walk to Gelebor. It muttered something quietly, Gelebor made out the words 'Sovngarde', '_Dovahkiin' _and _'grohiik'. _After that, the spirit passed Emalia's body to Gelebor and disappeared. Frea ran over and ushered Gelebor to her small home. "Quickly, we must tend to her and get some answers.

* * *

Emalia pried open her eyes and groaned, her head pounded and pain arced through her arms and legs, especially through her right leg... Her vision was blurry and her mind was hazy, she couldn't make out where she was or what was happening. Her skin and throat seemed to burn as if a fire danced over her body. A soft groan escaped her lips as she tilted her head to the side. A gentle hand touched her cheek and pried her jaws open. A warm, yet cold, sweet liquid was poured down her throat. A lovely sensation flowed through her at that moment, the aches and pains seemed to be slowly soothed and healed in what seemed like an eternity. Then, it felt like air had suddenly gushed through her lungs. She sucked in a deep breath and her eyes snapped open. Emalia felt the warmth of a fire bathing her skin, the uncomfortable burning sensation had gone from her skin. She propped herself upright and rubbed her eyes. Emalia still felt a little dizzy and there was still the faint headache, her leg still felt a bit painful as well, but other than that she felt alright. "Thank the All-Maker! You're awake!"

Emalia turned to see Frea walk up to her. "How do you feel?" She asked gently.

"Dizzy, aching, painful, confused, but other than that I feel fine."

Frea let out a sigh of relief, it was then Emalia noticed the shadows beneath her eyes. "How long have I been out?" Emalia asked quietly.

"Almost two days, whatever magic you used drained quite a bit out of you. A nasty blow to the head that you received could've contributed to that too, though..."

"So... You stayed with me and healed me this whole time?"

Frea nodded, running her fingers through her tangled hair. Emalia smiled warmly. "Thank you Frea. I... I'm sorry I yelled at you that time before... It's just..."

The Skaal woman put a hand on Emalia's shoulder, nodding knowingly. "I understand. But there is something I do not understand."

Emalia tilted her head. "What do you mean."

Frea dragged a chair over and sat down in it. She sighed and looked Emalia in the eyes. "Why haven't you told Gelebor? Also, what is Hircine exactly up to with you?"

Emalia bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling. "I... It's just... I thought that... That..." A single tear fell and trickled down her cheek. "I thought I could keep it hidden so that... It didn't affect my ability to fight... I also didn't want him to continually feel sympathy for me. I didn't want him to think of me as weak and unable to fight! Every single time someone brings the subject up, my sanity crumbles around me! The barriers I built around my heart and mind fall and I fall prey to the demons which wish to tear my mind to pieces!"

Frea found this quite understandable, yet surprising... She never thought of Emalia as someone who would shut off her feelings. "I see... But what about Hircine, the Daedra which wants to curse you so badly? What part does he play?"

Frea noticed that Emalia had suddenly become scared, and almost worried. Her eyes darted around, as if looking for intruders. "Frea... Can I trust you?"

"What?"

"I need to be sure I can trust you! I refuse to tell a secret which has been kept for over four to five hundred years to someone who will not be able to keep it safe!"

Frea wasn't sure what Emalia was going on about. "I can keep a secret, yes. But one kept for such a long time... That is a heavy burden! What are you going on about?"

Emalia took in quite a few deep breaths and kept quiet for quite a while. After some time, she finally spoke. "Hircine is the Father of Man-beasts, yes?"

Frea nodded, still very confused. Emalia continued. "Five hundred years ago, a man was tricked by the Glenmoril Coven. Witches who worshiped the Daedric Lord Hircine. They told the man that he would be granted power beyond any man, and he accepted. This power was passed through the generations of the warriors in which he led. Spilling the blood in the Underforge and letting the highest of the order of warriors drink the blood. Can you guess who these warriors were?"

Frea was quiet for a moment, but she wasn't sure of what Emalia was getting at. "Sorry, no."

Emalia took a deep breath. "Frea, I've led this generation of those warriors. They were The Companions, Frea, The Companions."

"You were their leader... Does this mean...?"

"No! I am not a werewolf! Well... Ah, never mind! I'll get to that! When I joined, this was still happening. I was offered the blood and I took it. To answer your question, yes. But that was before. I do not have the Curse anymore. In fact, most of the Companions are free of it now. And it was me who freed them! I cut off the heads of the Glenmoril witches and burned them in the Flame of the Harbinger. Releasing me, my friends and Shield Siblings. Kodlak Whitemane, Farkas and..." She suddenly went quiet, and then, like a whisper of the breeze, Frea heard her say; "Vilkas..."

"I freed these good men!" Emalia declared. "And Hircine will stop at nothing to punish me for what I have done. After all I have done, I am still tortured. Why? I was the one who saved all of the people of this world countless times, yet the Gods still toy with me. Why, out of all people, me?"

**As usual, please favourite this story if you really like it! Follow it if you enjoy it enough to want to know what is going to happen next and please review if you'd like to tell me what you think and why you liked on bit or something like that! **

**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! You know that last quote that Emalia said in this chapter? Well, I made a drawing based off of it! You can check it out over here – art/Why-Me-404093412 and if you have a dA account, a comment would be lovely! Any advice would be very useful too! There will be more things like this in the near future!**

**Okay, that's all for today! I'll catch you guys later!**


End file.
